A Serpent in the Shell
by AuFox80
Summary: An intruder makes his way onto an offshore decontamination plant. Any comments/reviews are appreciated!
1. Infiltration

The helicopter blades whir and spin, creating a soporific sound

The helicopter blades whir and spin, creating a soporific sound. The adrenaline rush from hanging invisibly from a harness underneath a helicopter's belly, however, keeps the man awake.

Another man's voice rings in the invisible man's head. "Come in from downwind, then pull up fast! Get ready to fast rope down to Shell One! Five minutes to ETA!"

Annoyed, the man taps behind his ear. With one hand, the man adroitly dons a sophisticated piece of scuba gear and hangs onto the harness.

The helicopter begins to descend rapidly, thirty degrees above horizontal. The turbulent winds around the Big Shell force the helicopter to ascend. Using the centrifugal force to his advantage, the man disengages the harness from the belly of the helicopter by pulling a quick release cord. To mirror the helicopter's parabolic course, the man flies through the air in a graceful arc and splashes into the cold Atlantic.

Angry bubbles greet the man as buoyancy forces him upwards. Unfazed, the man kicks his way closer to the Big Shell and comes across an oil fence. After kicking, diving thirty meters, the man takes out an oxyhydrogen torch and begins to slice through the metal. In no time, the man creates a rectangular entry and dolphin-kicks his way through it.

Lights up ahead. The lights of the deep sea dock guide the man upward.

His head breaks the surface. Harsh lights around the sea dock illuminate the area. After surveying the area for any sentries, the man's hands grasp the rung of a metal ladder. In a fluid motion, he pulls himself upward and discards his scuba gear in the water.

He is dressed in a light blue, plastic-like sneaking suit. Belts and harnesses are situated across his chest, around his waist and his upper thighs. In a thigh holster is a Heckler and Koch USP; in a holster under his left arm is a Heckler and Koch Mk23 SOCOM.

Cautiously, the man makes his way up some stairs and finds a door with a metal hatch. Ever so slowly, he opens the hatch. With feline swiftness, the man leans his back against the wall, next to the door, and slowly peeks around the corner. Unbeknownst to him, a couple of sea lice make their way onto his sneaking suit and take refuge in his harness, drawn by his MREs.

After making sure everything is clear, the man slowly closes the door behind him. The door jams. Using an additional miniscule amount of energy to close the door, the man pulls the door towards himself.

SLAM!

"Vhat vas that noise just now?" a heavily-accented voice asks the void.

"Damn!" the man whispers to himself. The man surreptitiously makes his way toward the corner of the hallway and leans against the wall.

A lean soldier wearing tan fatigues and a black balaclava makes his way towards the noise. Like a trained professional, the soldier disengages the safety of his AN-94 and walks cautiously down the hallway. The automated door closes behind him. Just as he rounds the corner, the intruder's fist slams down upon the soldier's elbow crease pressure point. The soldier groans and loses the grip of his rifle. Swiftly, the guard reaches to his holster to retrieve his Makarov PM. He then turns his head to face his assailant, only to get an elbow right between the eyes.

"Ooof," the soldier manages before getting dizzy and disoriented. He gets pulled into the corner of the hallway, banging his head against the wall. He falls face down onto the metal grating, passes out.

Taking advantage of the momentary lapse of the guard's consciousness, the intruder moves along the hallway and passes through the automated door. He leans his back against a pair of stacked containers. Peeking around the corner, he finds a pair of guards, also wearing tan fatigues and black balaclavas, talking near a forklift. Both guards have their ANs leaning against the forklift.

"Slackers," the intruder says to himself, smiles. Sidling against the containers, the intruder makes his way towards the pair. Quickly, the intruder rounds the corner, grabs the back of one soldier's uniform, pivots, and hurls the soldier into the black metallic frame of the forklift. TONNNGGGGGGGG. The forklift reverberates from the impact. The soldier immediately gets knocked out.

Outside, in the hallway, the first soldier recovers and shakily stands up. He picks up his AN and attempts to shake off his dizziness. He is so discombobulated that he doesn't notice the hatch turn and the dock door open. He walks slowly towards his two comrades, trying to get his bearings.

The soldier by the forklift reaches for his AN, only to get a swift kick to his knee. The soldier buckles. Adeptly, the intruder gets the soldier in a headlock and withdraws the Makarov.

"Von't do you no good," the soldier taunts the intruder, "it uses a personal identification system."

"FREEZE!" the lean soldier yells, as he appears next to a metallic container.

"Back for more, huh?" the man asks in a gruff voice. "Gurlukovich would be disappointed at your sloppiness."

"I sai--" the lean soldier begins.

THUNK.

The intruder had thrown the Makarov squarely between the lean soldier's eyes, once again causing the soldier to lose consciousness.

The remaining soldier struggles against the intruder's hold. Ignoring the struggle, the intruder pulls the soldier onto the cargo elevator and presses the button. As the pulley system begins to engage, the intruder abruptly flexes his arm, causing the soldier to black out. The intruder pushes the limp body off the elevator as it begins to ascend.

The soldier impotently rolls off of the elevator and lands near a computer terminal as a second sneaking-suit clad intruder leans against the same stack of containers the first did.

"Hmmmph," the first intruder grunts as he turns his back on the Gurlukovich men.

The first intruder touches his finger behind his right ear.

"This is Snake. Kept you waiting, huh?"


	2. Fate of the SEALs

"This is Snake

"This is Snake. Kept you waiting, huh?"

The elevator continues upward to the top of the strut, while Snake communicates via codec.

"Snake! It's about time. Where are you?"

"I'm riding an elevator upwards, on Strut A. It's obviously not the one into Metal Gear. What's your location, Otacon?"

"Right now, I'm in Strut C. Bravo team took care of the few Gurlukovich soldiers here and is coordinating with Alpha, at the moment."

Snake grumbles. "What about the PAN cards?"

"I'm starting to program a set now for the SEALs. I just made one for Stillman. It's going to be hard to slip one to you without raising suspicion. Damn!"

Alarmed, Snake asks, "Otacon? What's wrong?"

"Bravo team wants me to go to the computer lab in the core. I'll meet you there. Tell me when you're at the door, and I'll open it with my PAN card."

"Understood." Snake taps behind his ear to cease communication.

The elevator reaches the top of Strut A. Snake squints upward at the sunlit sky. Seagulls circle above him, squawking like deranged chickens. Snake looks around, checking for sentries. Upon seeing none, he gets off the elevator and walks quietly toward a metal screen serving as a door. Locked. A volley of yellow and white guano land near his feet. Scoffing, Snake goes across the area, and checks the other door. Locked again. Snake checks the other door across the area. Locked again.

Not wasting time, Snake walks around the corner. He takes out the small oxyhydrogen torch and melts the bottom of the wire fence in a rectangular shape. Snake waits for the metal to cool down and crawls through. More guano rains from above.

"Worse than ravens," Snake groans.

An automatic door opens at his approach. Snake walks through hesitantly. He follows a staircase downward and the door closes. He leans against the wall at the base of the stairs. Peeking around the corner, Snake sees a couple Gurlukovich soldiers talking.

"It's your turn to walk around ze pipes."

The other soldier groans and makes his way along the hallway toward a door at the other end of the room.

An unseen soldier speaks. "Hey, do you know how to use zis computer?"

The remaining Gurlukovich soldier walks toward the middle of the room. Taking advantage of this situation, Snake stealthily walks along the periphery of the room and makes his way toward the AB connecting bridge. Another door automatically opens at Snake's approach.

The door closes behind Snake as he follows a short hallway. Peeking past the door, Snake sees a lone Gurlukovich soldier making his rounds along the perimeter of the rectangle of a bridge. As soon as the soldier walks past him, Snake falls into step behind the soldier, playing a game of follow-the-leader. Finally, Snake makes his way to the other side of the bridge and heads into the hallway to Strut B. Snake stops before the automatic door can open. He hears a crazed voice from within.

"DAMMIT! COVER THE PRESIDENT!" A pause. "This is Alpha Zero. We are under attack! THIS IS CRAZY! Is that...?!"

Silence.

Cautiously, Snake makes his way forward.

As soon as the automatic door opens in front of him, haunting memories flood Snake's consciousness. Sprays of blood coat the walls. Streaks across the floor. Snake carefully treads lightly and turns a corner. Bodies. More arterial spray on the walls. Four bodies lay in the hallway -- all of them have knives sticking out their chest or neck. One of them is slumped at the base of a doorway; a twisted caricature of a puppet with its strings cut forever.

Snake mumbles a phrase from a nightmare made real, "It looks like they were cut by some type of blade."

Blade. BLADE blade. BLADE... BLADE. The word echoes in his head like a bell tolling from a distance.

Snake shakes his head. "Snap out of it!" he yells at himself.

Snake makes his way along the hallway and finds one of the Alpha Team members with a radio headset. He quickly drags the SEAL along the hallway, and finds a trio of lockers.

"Sorry about this," Snake grumbles. Hastily, Snake withdraws the knife from the SEAL's chest and strips the SEAL of his fatigues and dog tag. Snake dons his new battle dress uniform, like a new skin. Like a new skin, it doesn't feel right. Ignoring the feeling, Snake fastens his holsters on his thigh and under his arm. That's a bit better, he thinks. He sets the soldier's M4, magazines, and headset on a box nearby.

Snake opens the locker on the far right and carefully places the SEAL's body inside. He closes the SEAL's eyes and shuts the locker. It closes with the sound of finality.

Using the SEAL's knife, Snake jams the locker door and breaks the knife at the hilt. Snake puts on the radio headset and inspects the M4.

"Damn!" Snake blurts. He looks down at the M4 and recognizes the personal identification module.

Snake bends down on one knee and taps behind his ear.

"Otacon."

"Snake?"

"I've procured a SEAL's M4. It has a personal ID system. Is there a way to bypass it?"

"You can reset the ID system."

"How?"

"First input the original ID information. It should start with 'A.' Next should be the squad number. Then the last four letters of the last name."

Snake groans. "I don't know the squad number."

"Is the SEAL any different from the rest of them?"

"Yea. He had a radio."

"That's Alpha Zero. So, input 'A0' and the last four letters of the last name."

"How do I reset the ID info, then?"

"The default code is a repeated segment. Try 'ORLYYARLY.'"

"Got it."

Snake taps the back of his ear, mumbling, "He makes it sound so easy."

Snake looks at the dog tag. 'Hideus Cojimo.' Snake grimaces, thinking, what an odd name. Snake inputs 'A0JIMO.' The M4's personal information module winks at Snake. Not hesitating, Snake inputs 'ORLYYARLY.' The module becomes blank.

Snake ejects the clip and checks the chamber. Upon seeing it empty, Snake pulls the M4's trigger a few times while watching the sears.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK CLICK.

Snake smiles. It worked. The sears had disengaged with each trigger pull. Snake loads the magazine and engages the safety.

TAT TAT TAT. TAT TAT. TAT TAT TAT TAT.

Snake quickly leans against the wall. M4 fire muffled. There must have been SEALs within the transformer room. Snake peeks down the hallway.

Like a phantom, an operative with silver blond hair appears. He is wearing a gray-blue sneaking suit with a scary semblance of a skeleton. The sneaking suit is like skin drawn tightly over the operative's bones; his ribs protrude as if he was an emaciated African refugee.

"ALPHA ZERO! COME IN, ALPHA ZERO!"

Snake jumps in surprise. Annoyed, he turns down the radio volume. Thankfully, the blond didn't notice.

"ALL ALPHA, COME IN! WHAT'S GOING ON!? ALPHA! RESPOND!!"

Fearlessly, the blond walks through the automatic door, without a weapon. The SEAL puppet at the base of the door falls limply to his side.


End file.
